9: Personal Revelations
Jecht was not a morning person. This became apparent when he shuffled into Braska's kitchen, bleary-eyed and sloppy. His clumsy search of the countertop knocked over more than a few bottles before Rikku decided to try to stop the rampage.
"The tea's right here," she said helpfully, holding up her own mug.
"Screw the tea," Jecht grunted. "You got any booze?"
Braska carefully placed his own cup down and pinned Jecht under a disapproving glare. "I don't drink," he said. "And I would appreciate it if you refrained from doing so while in my house."
Jecht swayed and then grumbled in acquiescence, reaching instead for an empty cup and helping himself to some tea. "Don't see the problem," he grunted. "You let Auron carry that jug around with him wherever he goes."
"That," Braska replied, "is different. All high-ranking Warrior Monks learn how to use blessed wine as a part of their combat training."
Jecht blinked and took a long gulp from his mug. He belched noisily.
Rikku winced. "Eww, morning breath! Keep it to yourself!"
Jecht wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and grinned. "So where do I sign up to become one of these monks?"
Braska sighed and returned to his own small breakfast of sliced fruit. "I want to spend some time with Yuna," he told them. "Please understand. We will be leaving the city early tomorrow, so you are free until then. But for today I would like to have some time alone with my daughter."
"Sure, whatever," Jecht grunted. Then he scrunched his brows and looked around the table. "Where's Auron anyway?" he asked, directing the question at Rikku.
"How should I know?" Rikku stared at Jecht with narrowed eyes as a smirk began to form. "Don't answer that, it's too early to deal with your perverted jokes right now."
"Auron should be outside, training." Braska collected his empty plate and stood up, depositing the dish in the washbasin. "I shall wake Yuna. The city is yours for the day." A small smile crossed his face. "Do try to stay out of trouble," he added.
"Who, us? Trouble?" Rikku said innocently. She ignored Braska's amused chuckle and returned her attention back to her own breakfast, which was more of an exercise in food sculpture than an attempt to eat. Rikku hadn't had much of an appetite since their return yesterday.
"You gonna finish that?"
Rikku shrugged and pushed her plate over to Jecht. The soothing sound of Braska's voice floated into the room as he spoke to Yuna; Rikku blinked sleepily. She planted her chin into a palm and thought about their trip back from the temple.
Braska was successful in obtaining his first aeon, though like his daughter, it had taken the man an extraordinarily long time to do so. He had emerged from the altar looking pale and exhausted, and the small group hadn't managed to do much more than return to his apartment for the night to allow him to recover from the ordeal. Rikku wasn't in any mood to argue with the decision; she was feeling fairly drained herself, though sleep didn't find her as easily as she'd hoped.
Instead, Rikku spent the night twisting possibilities and weighing scenarios in her mind, trying to conjure up a way out of her waking nightmare. Not that she had anything against the current company; rather, the omnipresent threat of Sin, the more nebulous danger of Shuyin and Vegnagun, and even the as-of-yet still teenaged Seymour worried continually at the edges of her mind. In the end, she only managed to reach two concrete conclusions: if Bahamut wanted to be kind, he should have taken her memories when he threw her back, and that her next best hope to return would be to find a way into this world's Farplane. If anything, she could always fling herself off into the mists once more and hope for a repeat performance. Or a messy death. But hey, at least it would be in the Farplane, rather than one of the temples. Or worse yet, in the aftermath of one of Sin's random attacks.
The only monkey wrench in Rikku's plan was the location of the Farplane. Outsiders were hardly welcome in Guadosalam. It was true that missionaries of the Church had been quite busy proselytizing to the Guado for years; Lord Jyscal's conversion was considered one of Yevon's greatest successes. Still, the sheer lack of Guado even on the streets of Bevelle clued Rikku in to the potential difficulty of being granted an audience within the xenophobic city. Being a part of Braska's summoning party would certainly help; it was enough of an answer to allow her to fall into an uneasy sleep. It didn't keep away the nightmares, though, and Rikku woke early, before either Yuna or Jecht.
Not before Braska, however, whom she found sitting alone at the table, plagued by his own demons. And of course not before Auron, who along with his sword was already missing from the tiny apartment. She and Braska hadn't exchanged any words then, just a meeting of eyes and a morbid silence. Unable to take it, Rikku had finally gotten up and puttered around the kitchen, pulling out mugs and jars until she found Braska's stash of tea and applied herself to preparing a pot.
"You're really going to do this," she stated when she was finished, setting a mug in front of him.
He took it from her gratefully and bowed his head. "Perhaps it is not fair to Yuna," he admitted. "But it is all I have left to give her."
"No it's not!" Rikku blurted out then. "You're just taking the easy way out, you know that? Yunie doesn't need a Calm, she needs a dad!"
Braska had looked at her, laughing without humor, and nodded. "You are partially right. I am a selfish man." And then, his eyes filling with pain, he had reached out and clasped her hand. "More than anything else, I wish to see my wife again. If it was not for Yuna…" he trailed off.
Rikku heard it then, in his voice; he wanted to die, and it had nothing to do with Sin or the Pilgrimage at all. His fingers tightened around hers and he was looking at her, but not seeing her. "Raenn," he murmured. "Would that you were real. I would give anything to see you again."
Rikku felt a shiver pass through her. Weren't those her thoughts reflected in his face? Her own desires, the unvoiced ones that had formed Auron's image on the Farplane? Scared by the intensity of his words, she extracted her palm from his grip and stared at the floor. The movement woke Braska, and he caught her eyes.
"I am not selfish enough to take that journey without giving something back as well. You are wrong. Yuna does need a Calm. Every man, woman and child in Spira needs the Calm. I will not have my daughter raised in fear as well as exile."
"Even if it means she has to be alone?"
Braska closed his eyes. "If I manage to bring the Calm, she will never be alone."
"That's not what I meant!" Rikku snapped. "She won't have you."
"She will have to manage." The tense silence that had risen in the wake of Braska's uncompromising reply remained in place until Jecht's bumbling interruption.
Bringing herself out of her reflection, Rikku watched the other man eat, oblivious to her troubled silence. Irritated, Rikku stood. In no mood to deal with Jecht's ignorance, she left him at the table and wandered towards the exit.
"Say hi to Auron when you see him," Jecht hooted after her.
"Who said I'm looking for him?" Rikku called over her shoulder, scowling and resisting the urge to slam the door behind her. She stomped down the narrow staircase and skipped out into the empty street, glancing over her surroundings. Auron was nowhere in sight, and Rikku huffed and paced restlessly across the sidewalk in front of the building.
"I'm so not looking for him," she repeated to herself even as her feet carried her back up the stairwell. She passed Braska's door and continued upward, climbing steadily until she reached the door to the roof. Easing it open, she peered out.
Auron was practicing, just as Braska said. He must have been there for some time already; the red coat was neatly folded next to the door, and his ever-present jug was lying on top of it. Shutting the door, Rikku seated herself next to his things and admired the show.
He hadn't yet noticed her, continuing to sling his sword through the air in the clean, focused strikes of a kata. Auron's mastery of the blade was a thing of beauty; he moved fluidly through each twist and slash as though the motions were effortless. She admired the finely muscled curve of his arms, which were covered with a thin layer of sweat that glistened in the morning light. They were strong and sharply defined, and in her opinion much too often hidden beneath the folds of his thick red coat. She fleetingly thought of hacking the sleeves of said coat off with her daggers while he wasn't looking, even going so far as to pick up the fabric and rub it beneath her fingers.
Auron whirled around, slashing his sword downwards with a grunt. His eyes widened with surprise, but he checked the motion of his swing precisely at the moment he saw her. Rikku was impressed; he managed to hold the blade perfectly still despite its weight and the force of his own strike. Then again, by the time they had finally faced Sin together, Auron was even better with the sword than he was now.
"Enjoying yourself?" Auron asked dryly.
"Oh, don't stop just 'cause of little old me!" Rikku offered, giving him a cheerful wave and tucking his coat back underneath the jug.
"I don't think so," Auron told her, hitching the sword over his back and approaching. He leaned over and grabbed his coat, inspecting it for damage before donning it, and then to her surprise settled beside her on the ground. Rikku sniffed and made a face; even if perspiration looked good on him, it smelled anything but.
"Do you do this every morning?" she asked.
Auron nodded, wiping away some of the sweat from his forehead.
Rikku let out a disappointed sigh. "Then I think I'm really going to miss showers when we start travelling."
The low noise that came out of Auron's throat could have been either a grunt of annoyance or an amused chuckle; it died out as he regarded her. "So you've decided to stay with us beyond Bevelle, then?"
"I think I don't have much of a choice," Rikku admitted. Then she smiled at him. "Besides, you guys are starting to grow on me. I thought maybe I should stick around and keep you from murdering Jecht."
The rumble that came out of Auron's throat next was definitely a laugh. "By providing us with a new target?" he finished for her, uncapping his jug and lifting it to his lips.
"Whoa!" Rikku yelled, her eyes growing large. "I thought Braska said that was holy combat nog or something!"
Auron lowered the jug. "It is," he answered with a straight face.
Rikku scowled at him. "Well isn't it a little too soon for that, huh?"
"I have to find some way to deal with you this early in the morning."
She stopped trying to hide her stare. He looked back at her impassively, and that's when it struck her. "You just made a joke!" she told him, sticking her finger into his face. Not that she wasn't delighted to have witnessed it, but the more immediate concern was that she was the butt of it, and that, in Rikku's mind, was clearly unacceptable.
"So I did," Auron mused. "It must be the wine." This time the amusement in his voice was evident.
Gaping, Rikku crossed her arms. "I should've snitched your sleeves while I had the chance," she huffed. "So much for being nice!"
"Rikku," Auron said, and she quieted down. The amusement in his tone had died out, and he half-turned to look at her. "These… attacks you've been having," he began. "Do you have any idea of what might be causing them?"
"Maybe," Rikku said uncertainly. "But I don't wanna talk about it, okay?"
Auron frowned. "My condition for secrecy is that you do not hinder Braska's Pilgrimage. If these attacks are going to become a liability -"
Rikku groaned. "I'm not going to drag you guys down, okay?" She crossed her arms and glared at Auron. "You're not getting rid of me that easily."
"You are persistent," Auron admitted.
Rikku smiled at him and flipped a braid away from her face. "One of my better qualities, of course!" she bragged. Her smile faltered and dropped when she realized that he wasn't about to give up either.
"What is it that you really want?" he asked. It was an honest question for once; not one stacked with ulterior motives and double meanings. He was asking for her, not Braska. It made her smile, though the question still left her confused. So she voiced her confusion.
"What'cha mean?"
Auron stared out into the open expanse of sky, or at least what could be seen of it from within the crowded confines of Bevelle. Rikku followed his example and squinted at the small strip of blue, which shone brightly over the dark, gloomy buildings surrounding them. It really did feel like Bevelle existed in a different world from the rest of Spira. For a brief moment Rikku found herself wishing Sin would come and attack the city, tearing down its man-made barriers and forcing its residents to rejoin the rest of the world outside. Then the moment passed and was replaced with a deep-rooted shame for having even thought of it.
"What are you searching for?" Auron's deep voice swept away the guilty reflection, demanding her attention. "You obviously don't believe in the teachings of Yevon, but you are still here, and a Guardian no less."
Rikku slumped. "Once upon a time," she said, "someone told me that the Fayth are the ones who give power to the Summoners. Not the temples and not the Teachings." She couldn't stop the nostalgic smile that bloomed. "Just because I don't like Yevon doesn't mean I can't be a good Guardian."
Auron considered her reply before speaking once more. "That doesn't answer the question."
Rikku leaned back onto her elbows and stretched out her legs. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the feel of the air and the warmth of the morning sun. If she pretended, she could almost imagine that she wasn't surrounded by the dingy, dirty slums of Bevelle. She could be lying on the deck of the Celsius, lazing around while waiting for Buddy to report on the next round of sphere waves and complaining to herself about how busy she was doing nothing important.
"I want a world without Sin," she replied without hesitation. "…I want to go home."
Auron, of course, didn't understand. "Then why don't you?"
"I would if I could but I can't, okay?" Rikku snapped bitterly, breaking the peaceful atmosphere between them.
He recoiled, then answered her just as harshly. "So you chose a Guardian's path simply because you have nothing better to do with yourself."
Rikku winced. "That's not what I meant! I really do want to see a world without Sin," she told him, her anger deflating with every word. "I know it's possible."
"Lord Braska will bring the Calm, whether you are with us or not." Auron's glare was cold, and she could almost see all the progress she'd made befriending him in the past two days crumbling away. She tried to take comfort from the fact that he was still talking to her, but his tone had turned businesslike, and it made her heart sink. "If you can't even decide on your own goals, then you will fail in your duty as a Guardian. You'll have to make up your mind."
Rikku froze, chilled by his words. You'll have to choose what you love more in the end. Is that what you meant? she thought, feeling her insides twist. The whispered question made sense now; she cursed herself for having clung to her memory of Auron so tightly that it had blinded her to his sacrifice. Braska and Yuna's sacrifice. Jecht and Tidus' sacrifice. She had wished for the world to revolve around her, and her wish had been granted. And now here she was, with the power to change everything. She could destroy Spira - all for a foolish, selfish crush on a man long dead.
If she had been grateful, she would have been congratulating Yuna and Tidus on their new life together, rather than watching them jealously from the sidelines; flirting with Gippal rather than spurning his advances in favor of moping on the Farplane. She should have spent her time living with what was rather than wishing for what could have been. Now Auron was here, whole and young and alive, and more receptive to her advances than he had ever been before - though that still wasn't saying much. The only price she had to pay for her dream was Spira's happiness.
He knew I could never choose that.
The irony of her "victory" made her laugh out loud. Auron was looking at her strangely, and Rikku smiled at him. "Hey Auron," she said. "Did you know that being in love feels like walking on pins and needles?"
"Love?" His eyebrows drew together and he looked away, caught off guard. "I wouldn't know," he answered.
Rikku let herself sprawl all the way down onto the ground, staring up into the sky. "Yeah, you do," she corrected him. "You love Braska."
"Are you implying that I -" he began indignantly, but Rikku cut him off.
"You're not Jecht. Stop thinking those weird perverted thoughts!" she snapped.
Auron opened his mouth to protest, and then closed it. A shadow crossed his face, followed by a wry smile. "… yes," he said after a moment of silent consideration. "Yes, it does feel that way, doesn't it."
He turned to face her, but Rikku avoided his gaze. After her revelation, she couldn't bear to look into his eyes. It was immeasurably worse than wishing for Sin to destroy Bevelle.
"You're a strange riddle," Auron told her. "You want to help us, but you abhor the Summoner's path. You wish for the Calm, but you disapprove of the Pilgrimage. You want to return to your home, but you remain with us."
"I guess I'm just a gal who wants it all," Rikku answered.
She heard Auron standing up; from her position on the ground, seeing his face was unavoidable. He was looking at her with a mix of pity and confusion. "I don't know your secrets, but I can tell you this much. You cannot be of two minds, Rikku."
Rikku turned her head and stared at him; it was painful, considering how bright the backdrop of the sky was against his darkly shaded face. Separate worlds, she thought.
"Choose one path, and follow it with all your heart. It will make things…"
"Easier?" Rikku supplied.
"… simpler," he answered. He turned to leave, and Rikku tilted her head back to watch him.
"Hey, where are you going?" she asked.
He faced her again and the hint of a smile tugged at his lips. "Apparently I need a shower." Pulling open the door, he stepped into the building. Rikku watched until until the closing door obscured him.
"You aren't making it any easier, stupid-head."
.x.x.x.
After Auron left, Rikku fell asleep on the rooftop. When she eventually woke and returned to Braska's apartment, not much had changed. Auron was sitting on the couch, idly flipping through a book, while Jecht was lounging in the kitchen. She took one look around the room and decided she needed a distraction; the party was definitely not happening here.
"I'm bored!" Rikku rolled on the balls of her feet, swaying back and forth in front of Auron while pouting.
Auron looked up from the book he was reading and glared at her. "Go bother someone else."
"Meanie." Rikku stuck out her tongue and flounced away from the couch, making her way to the kitchen table. Jecht sprawled over a chair there, looking just as bored as she felt. "I'm bored!" she repeated to him.
Jecht didn't bother to move, only rolling his eyes in her direction. "So am I!" he complained.
"Well, what should we do?" she asked, arms akimbo. "Braska still isn't back yet, and it's way long before it'll get dark outside!"
Jecht roused himself out of his lazy slump. "Well… how 'bout we explore the city?"
"No," Auron called out from the couch, not bothering to look up.
"Hey!" Rikku and Jecht yelled simultaneously.
"No," Auron repeated with authority. "You both stick out like a sore thumb. The last thing we need is to have either of you getting arrested again. Besides, you have no money," he added, looking pointedly at Rikku. "Stay indoors and keep your heads low. We leave Bevelle tomorrow."
"Aw, man!" Jecht groaned, melting back into his seat. "Wish you hadn't busted up the damn blitzball."
"Hmph," Auron grunted with a note of malicious satisfaction.
Rikku was unwilling to accept defeat as easily as Jecht did. Her eyes roved around the tiny apartment until they settled on the two massive swords propped against the corner of the sitting room. "Hey Jecht." She kicked at the sole of his foot to get his attention, and he twitched in annoyance.
"Whadda ya want, Blondie?"
"Lemmie see your sword again!" Rikku told him, pointing at it.
Jecht lolled his head back. "You can see fine it from here."
Rikku sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but I can't lift it!" Jecht snorted and made no attempt to move, and Rikku stomped her foot on the ground. "Jecht!"
"Alright, alright!" he groaned, slouching out of his seat and towards his sword. He grabbed it and hefted it into the air. "Happy now?"
Rikku studied the blade. The black metal thrummed with power underneath her fingertips; it was so saturated with magic energy that it almost tingled. Despite that, there was no obvious benefit, magical or otherwise, to using the sword as anything other than just another sharp edge. Neither she nor Braska had managed to figure out how to unlock the secrets hidden within the blade. "You can feel it, can't you?" she asked, stroking the red runes. "This sword is special."
"It don't feel all that special to me," Jecht said, pulling it away from her.
Rikku pursed her lips together in exasperation. "That's because you don't know how to use it yet, dork!" she replied. "You're not much of a caster, are you."
"I know a little white magic!" Jecht protested, and Rikku gawked at him. Auron also set his book aside and looked up in surprise.
"You know magic," he repeated, his expression clearly indicating his disbelief.
Jecht grumbled and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah. Well all I really know is a little Haste spell and how to do some Scannin'. S'good for blitzin' … and scopin' out the ladies."
Auron relaxed into his chair with a look of disgust. "I should have guessed," he mumbled, once again disinterested in their conversation.
"Perv," Rikku said under her breath. "And don't you dare try that on me! I have eyes in the back of my head!"
"No, you don't," Jecht countered. "I checked already." He laughed loudly as Rikku spent a few moments fuming at him.
"Well if you know magic, how can you not feel it?" Rikku asked, smacking the blade into the floor. The tip landed in the threadbare carpet, giving it a new tear.
"Don't do that," Auron droned from the couch, flipping to a new page. "Go outside if you're going to manhandle that thing."
Jecht rolled his eyes and Rikku glared at Auron, who ignored both of them. Then she shifted her attention back to the sword. "You really can't feel it? I mean this thing is practically oozing magic!"
"I can feel it just fine," Jecht replied. "It don't do nothin' special though, besides feel weird when I touch it." He grimaced and tried to stow his sword back into the corner, but Rikku stopped him.
"Don't you want to learn how to use it at least?" she asked.
"Nope," Jecht replied, pulling the sword out of her grasp.
Rikku pouted. "I thought you said you were bored!"
"I ain't that bored!" Jecht growled. "Get back to buggin' Auron already!"
"Fine, I will!" Rikku huffed, stomping over to the couch and stopping in front of Auron. He remained engrossed in his book, but she saw him tense at her approach. "Oh Auron," she called sweetly, swaying back and forth.
"No."
Rikku wilted, then scowled at him. "Sheesh, you have a limited vocabulary, don't you?" Auron glowered but refused to put away his book. "C'mon!" Rikku whined insistently. "You know he needs it!"
"The hell?" Jecht interrupted, crossing his arms. "I don't need his help!"
"Stop being so stubborn, both of you!" Rikku jumped in frustration. "Don't you wanna protect Braska?" That seemed to have struck a nerve, at least with Auron. With a long-suffering sigh, he snapped the book shut and placed it aside.
"Fine." He stood up and brushed past Rikku and Jecht, grabbing his sword. "I'll be on the rooftop."
"Don't wait up," Jecht called after Auron as he pulled the front door open.
Auron stopped and turned to Rikku, his gaze hard. "Whether or not he decides to come is no concern of mine." Then he slipped out the door, slamming it behind himself.
Mission Train Jecht: Part One, accomplished! Rikku cheered to herself. Then she put on a stern expression and faced the second half of the problem. "Jecht!"
"Uh-uh," Jecht said, backing away from her. "I ain't goin'!"
Rikku smiled at him. "You know you're just proving that Auron really is better than you by acting like such a scaredy-cat!"
Jecht pouted stubbornly. "I ain't fallin' for that."
"Falling for what? The truth?" Rikku threw her hands up. "Once we hit the road, the first fiend we meet is gonna tear you apart unless you figure out how to use that sword."
"I'd rather get a few knocks from a fiend than feed the Stiff's ego." He refused to budge.
"His name is Auron and he's not a stiff!" Rikku glared at Jecht and tried a new tactic. "In case you didn't notice, he's trying to help you out here. Now take this sword…" She grabbed onto the handle of Jecht's sword as she spoke and tried to lift it. Not surprisingly, it wasn't happening. Paine had always told her she had the upper body strength of a hypello, and she wasn't far off the mark. "Uhh!" Rikku grunted, only managing to move the sword a few inches before resting it on the floor, where it made yet another new tear in the carpet. "This thing is heavy!"
"You look ridiculous." Jecht laughed at her. Rikku was going to scowl at him, but then she realized that a laughing Jecht was more likely to reach the rooftop than a sulking one.
"I wouldn't have to do this if you'd just take this stupid sword…" She grunted, dragging the sword forward again and splitting the hapless carpet apart as she did so. Auron's so gonna kill me. Then Jecht laughed again, and she twitched. No, he's so gonna kill Jecht when I tell him that this was all his fault. "… and learn how to use it!" she finished, stopping in front of him.
Jecht sighed and grabbed the sword out of her hand. "Gimme that before you wreck the rest of Braska's pad," he told her.
"So you'll go then?" Rikku asked him hopefully, clasping her hands together under her chin.
"Ugh, yeah, alright. But you're gonna owe me for this one, Rikkma," Jecht strode towards the door, and Rikku skipped behind him with a happy smile.
"Huh, you're comin' too?" Jecht asked, pausing at the door.
Rikku smirked at him and shoved him up the stairs. "Hah, I wouldn't miss this for the world!"
Jecht cursed under his breath. He climbed the stairs and burst out onto the rooftop.
Rikku spilled out behind him and plopped herself onto the ground with a large smile. "Hey hey, let's get this party started!" she called.
Auron turned to face them; he was already waiting. His coat was neatly folded and placed to the side, and he leaned on his sword. "You actually came," he said to Jecht.
"Thanks to your harpy," Jecht grumbled.
Rikku stopped cheering and sent a Rikku Look hurtling towards Jecht. "What was that?" she yelled at him.
"She's not my harpy," Auron answered.
"Auron!" Rikku screeched, and he glanced at her in surprise.
"Why are you upset with me?" he asked with a note of annoyance.
"Duh!" Rikku shook her fist at him. "You're supposed to say 'She's not A harpy!'"
His smug look returned. "… Why?"
The smile on Jecht's face broadened. "Hah! Maybe you're right, Rikkma, he ain't that much of a Stiff after all!"
That dropped the smirk off of Auron's face, though it didn't change Rikku's expression at all.
"You both suck," she declared. "Go hit each other with your swords or something!"
Jecht continued to laugh at her until Auron interrupted him with a quiet command.
"Now then," he said. "Come at me."
Jecht scratched the back of his head. "Huh?"
Auron grimaced and lifted his sword, sliding into a guard position. "Attack me!" he repeated.
At this Jecht finally picked up his own sword and smiled. "Don't need to ask me twice!" He ran towards Auron, swinging the sword at the other man like a large club.
Rikku thought she saw Auron roll his eyes as he gracefully avoided Jecht's blow. She smiled; it was a technique Auron had already mastered, one she had learned herself from Lulu while travelling together. Jecht was fast, almost as fast as she was, and strong to boot. But Auron knew the strengths and limits of his own body, and trained rigorously to hone the skills he had. You didn't have to be fast when defending, you had to be agile. Auron hadn't actually moved from his original spot when Jecht struck, he simply dodged the clumsy strike.
Jecht spun quickly, cleaving downwards with the sword in an attempt to catch Auron off guard. Auron, however, was already prepared and blocked the strike, and with a screech of metal whirled the sword around and sent it flying out of Jecht's hands. It landed with a heavy thunk a few paces in front of Rikku's seat.
"Wow," she yelped, wide-eyed. "That was cool!"
"Damn," Jecht cursed, rubbing his wrist. "That was just luck!"
"It was anything but," Auron countered smoothly. "Get your sword."
"Aw, shaddup," Jecht growled as he stalked over to his weapon. Pulling it from the ground, he whirled and rushed at Auron again without warning.
Rikku winced, Auron sighed, and then with a clang of metal, Jecht's sword was spinning through the air again, this time landing on the opposite side of the roof.
"You need to learn how to wield your sword properly," Auron stated. "It's not a blitzball."
Jecht rubbed his head and stood up slowly from where he'd been knocked to the ground. "Don't matter how I hold the damn thing long as it ends up stuck in your side," he shot back.
"Idiot," Auron huffed, disgusted. "You'll never manage to break through your opponent's defense until you learn how to handle your own weapon."
Jecht's face darkened and he bared his teeth at Auron in an ugly growl. "I don't need this bullshit," he ground out, stalking towards the door.
Auron returned the expression with an annoyed grimace of his own, dropping his sword off of his shoulder and slamming it into the ground in frustration. "Humph. I knew this was a waste of time."
Rikku shot up from her seat and stopped Jecht before he could reach the door, cringing at the tension that was crackling between the two angry men. "Hold up! Wait a second, Jecht!" She grabbed his arm when he pushed past her. He actually did drag her a few paces towards the exit despite her struggle to slow him down before stopping. "Come on, you need to learn this stuff. Auron knows what he's talking about!"
Jecht glared at her, his jaw working tightly. "This ain't what I signed up for," he grunted. "Laugh it up all you want. I ain't gonna sit here and be humiliated by the two of you. Get your kicks some other way."
Rikku released his arm with a silent gasp of surprise. She should have guessed; Jecht was a proud, arrogant man, and Auron was giving that pride a very thorough beating. "Sorry…" she mumbled, ashamed. "We didn't mean it like that."
"Right," Jecht snorted, crossing his arms and glaring at the door.
"Jecht."
The blitzball player spun around to face Auron, who had hefted his own sword back onto his shoulder. "Eh?" he grunted.
"Take up your sword," Auron demanded, inclining his head towards the abandoned blade.
Jecht narrowed his eyes at Auron. "Why the hell should I?"
Auron looked away, tapping his own blade on his shoulder. "Because you show potential," he admitted grudgingly.
The frown on Jecht's face was replaced by a look of surprise. Taking advantage of the moment, Rikku moved behind him and pushed him towards his blade. "Go on, Jecht!" she told him, ushering him to the sword. Finally Jecht shook her off and picked up the weapon on his own.
"Potential, huh?" He flipped the blade in his hands. "Fine. But if I hear either of you laughin' I walk."
Rikku held her hands up and backed away. "I promise not to laugh! I can't even lift your sword!" she told him with a bright smile.
Auron said nothing, only dipping his head in agreement.
"So…" Jecht said, gripping his sword with both hands and pointing it at Auron.
A faint smile crossed Auron's face. "Let's look at your stance first."
edited 7/16: fixed a small plot hole concerning Summoners in Guadosalam